Speakers & Guests
Abby McManigle
A native of Texas, Abby McManigle started her career by traveling westward to Le Cordon Bleu at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, where she graduated with honors. She honed her skills at several prestigious restaurants in San Francisco, eventually starting her own catering business that focused on high-end wine and food dinners.
McManigle also worked as a wine representative for Revel Wines and Winemongers in California, before falling in love with and moving to Oregon Wine Country. After several years as the executive chef at Ken Wright Cellars, McManigle joined the team at Brooks, where she combines her extensive expertise with food and refined knowledge of wine.
At Brooks, McManigle expertly pairs wines with flavors from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Her menu takes advantage of seasonal produce from Brooks’ Biodynamic gardens and eggs from the winery’s chickens. Brooks’ vegetables, fruits, herbs, and edible flowers make appearances alongside McManigle’s full menu, which is served throughout the day at Brooks’ tasting room, and at the winery’s monthly dinners and classes.
McManigle enjoys the creative freedom at Brooks: “I love tasting a wide variety of wines and pairing them with the cuisines of the Pacific Northwest, to demonstrate how they relate to each other.” And by incorporating more exotic spices (her favorites are cumin, cinnamon, saffron, coriander, and ginger), McManigle also hopes to showcase the versatility of Willamette Valley wines alongside different ethnic foods.